Mangaluru: KIOCL receives in-principle approval from the Centre for mining operations in Devadari range of Ballari district.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday June 28, M. V. Subba Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of KIOCL, said “the Union Environment and Forest Ministry accorded stage-1 in-principle approval on June 24 for the diversification of 401.57 hectares of forest land at Devadari Hill Range in Ballari district of Karnataka for the purpose of iron ore and manganese ore mining by KIOCL.” He added that this includes 388 ha for mining and 13.57 ha for approach road.
The company is hopeful of getting around 33 mt of iron ore from the Devadari ranges. KIOCL is planning to mine around 0.3 MTPA for the first five years, and it is planning to scale it up to 2 MTPA over the years. To begin with, Devadari mines is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and an equal number of indirect jobs.
In 2017, KIOCL had applied to the Karnataka Government for the allotment of the captive mines in the Devadari ranges under the quota available for PSUs.
Subba Rao said KIOCL has continued its efforts to expand the pellet market to different international markets such as Brazil and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries.
